Tourist Visa Questions (Turkey to USA)

[xtina92 2]

Hi everyone, I'm brand new to this site so apologies if I'm in the wrong forum. I'm an American citizen (29, F) currently visiting my boyfriend in Turkey (he is a Turkish citizen). I will be returning home next month, and we are hoping to obtain a tourist visa so he can visit me in California as soon as possible. Does anyone have any information about how long this process may take, whether he will be able to schedule an interview any time soon, or any other tips? I've been told he shouldn't mention that he has an American girlfriend (lest we have to apply for a K1 visa instead - which we aren't yet ready to do), but it seems it would be difficult to provide them the necessary information to obtain a tourist visa without lying about that fact, which doesn't seem particularly wise.

He spent a year in the US previously during college for educational purposes, and did not overstay his visa, so I figure that could give us an advantage in applying for a tourist visa? He has travelled abroad to other countries as well and never overstayed his visas there either. His entire family lives in Turkey, they are well-off and he has a good job + financial ties to his country, so I doubt he would have difficulty with that aspect of the visa; However, my biggest concerns are delays related to Covid and whether the embassies in Istanbul or Ankara are currently scheduling interviews in any sort of timely manner. We plan to move forward with the application, but when we have called the embassy the recorded message still says routine visa services are suspended..

Any help or advice is very much appreciated!

[aaron2020 11,651]

Usually, applying for a visitor visa takes about a month or two.  Not usual about COVID.

 

You will need to go to the visas section of the US Embassy's website for the latest and most current information about their operations. 

[SalishSea 18,072]

1 hour ago, xtina92 said:

I've been told he shouldn't mention that he has an American girlfriend (lest we have to apply for a K1 visa instead - which we aren't yet ready to do), but it seems it would be difficult to provide them the necessary information to obtain a tourist visa without lying about that fact, which doesn't seem particularly wise.

Not advisable to ever lie to US department of state.  There are consequences.

 

And they WILL ask if he has friends or family in the US.

 

According to the department of state, the US consulates in Turkey are not open anyway.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Jorgedig

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Our Current Operating Posture – Closed for routine services

On April 26, 2021, to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Turkey announced a nationwide lockdown beginning at 7:00 PM on Thursday, April 29, 2021, and continuing until at least 5:00 AM on Monday, May 17, 2021. During this time, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, U.S. Consulate in Adana, and Consular Agency in Izmir will be closed for routine consular services and all previously scheduled appointments will be rescheduled.  During this period, only emergency services will be provided.

Please continue to monitor this website for the most up-to-date information regarding our operating status.

 

https://tr.usembassy.gov/visas/

[xtina92 2]

7 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Our Current Operating Posture – Closed for routine services

On April 26, 2021, to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Turkey announced a nationwide lockdown beginning at 7:00 PM on Thursday, April 29, 2021, and continuing until at least 5:00 AM on Monday, May 17, 2021. During this time, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, U.S. Consulate in Adana, and Consular Agency in Izmir will be closed for routine consular services and all previously scheduled appointments will be rescheduled.  During this period, only emergency services will be provided.

Please continue to monitor this website for the most up-to-date information regarding our operating status.

 

https://tr.usembassy.gov/visas/

Thank you. Yes, I'm aware of this as I'm currently in Turkey. However, I'm trying to ascertain approximately how long the process may take once the embassy reopens. In other words, about how long is it taking for people to schedule an interview currently, considering the pandemic and all. Are we looking at weeks, months? Next year?? Any information related to timelines would be extremely helpful.

 

[xtina92 2]

7 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Not advisable to ever lie to US department of state.  There are consequences.

 

And they WILL ask if he has friends or family in the US.

 

According to the department of state, the US consulates in Turkey are not open anyway.

Yes, we don't intend to lie about it. However, the number of people who have warned us about it leads me to believe it could result in a rejection of the tourist visa. I'm hoping for some advice about this and the likelihood of rejection of a tourist visa based on the fact that I, his girlfriend, am a US citizen. 

[xtina92 2]

7 hours ago, aaron2020 said:

Usually, applying for a visitor visa takes about a month or two.  Not usual about COVID.

 

You will need to go to the visas section of the US Embassy's website for the latest and most current information about their operations. 

Unfortunately the US embassies in Turkey have suspended routine visa services during their lockdown, which will last until May 17th. I'm hoping once visa services resume that the process will only take a month or two, but I'm worried that they will be busy processing rescheduled interviews and it could take much longer than usual. 

I'm wondering if there are any Turkish citizens who are in process of obtaining a tourism visa currently who might have more information about timelines. Or perhaps who have had their interviews rescheduled due to the lockdown, and if so, when they were rescheduled for. 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

Very few embassies had restarted tourist visas after the Covid shutdowns and I don’t think Ankara was one of those. Prior to this latest lockdown it was already straining at capacity, they had issued a statement they would only process Turkish citizen visas (despite being a designated embassy for Iranians, as I am sure you are aware Iran does not have a US embassy). Embassies are dealing with a massive backlog in visa applications and need to prioritize those. Typically tourist visas are absolute last priority, embassies have been reopening for immigrant visas, fiancé visas, student visas, work visas (sometimes only for medical personnel) and typically no embassy is even yet back to normal capacity on these, very few are doing tourist. I think your most realistic timeframe is definitely going to be counted in months rather than weeks before he can get a tourist visa interview. The question is whether it will be only a few months or whether it will be many months.

 

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[mushroomspore 3,044]

5 hours ago, xtina92 said:

Thank you. Yes, I'm aware of this as I'm currently in Turkey. However, I'm trying to ascertain approximately how long the process may take once the embassy reopens. In other words, about how long is it taking for people to schedule an interview currently, considering the pandemic and all. Are we looking at weeks, months? Next year?? Any information related to timelines would be extremely helpful.

 

It'll depend on how much backlog they have to get through. Impossible to know, at least right now. As with all things related to US immigration, the wait time is what it is and there's no real way to determine or predict that. The only way you know that the wait is finally over is when the approval update comes in and his visa is in his hands.

5 hours ago, xtina92 said:

Yes, we don't intend to lie about it. However, the number of people who have warned us about it leads me to believe it could result in a rejection of the tourist visa. I'm hoping for some advice about this and the likelihood of rejection of a tourist visa based on the fact that I, his girlfriend, am a US citizen. 

The decision depends 100% on the consular officer who takes up your boyfriend's case. The only thing your boyfriend can and should do is be honest with each and every single question asked of him (including whether or not he has US family, friends and/or significant other) and to present as much and as many ties to Turkey as possible in his effort to convince the consulate that he does genuinely plan to return to Turkey. Officer A may have a more lenient personality and decides that even with an American girlfriend, your boyfriend will adhere to the tourist visa's rules and return home after his stay. Meanwhile, Officer B may be more of a hard-butt and does not want to take the chance of your boyfriend overstaying in the US because he has an American girlfriend and ultimately deny the tourist visa to him. Again, there is no way to know or predict.

[Adventine 3,201]

7 hours ago, xtina92 said:

Yes, we don't intend to lie about it. However, the number of people who have warned us about it leads me to believe it could result in a rejection of the tourist visa. I'm hoping for some advice about this and the likelihood of rejection of a tourist visa based on the fact that I, his girlfriend, am a US citizen. 

 

I applied for my US tourist visa because I wanted to visit my US citizen boyfriend. They asked me about him during the interview and I was direct and honest about having a US citizen boyfriend AND family members in the US.

 

It was a quick and easy interview. I believe the deciding factors in my case were that I had a stable job, a respectable salary, and travel history to other countries. Your Turkish boyfriend seems to have a similar situation so the odds are good that he will get a tourist visa. That said, there are no guarantees.

 

Also, anyone who advises you to lie or conceal information from immigration officers is not to be trusted.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Adventine

[Yeliz 28]

20 hours ago, xtina92 said:

 

Hi  I am a Turkish citizen and I am expecting a k1 visa in Turkey. consulates in Turkey are currently closed until may 17 due to the curfew. They will give priority to some types of visas after they are opened. Unfortunately, the tourist visa is not among these priorities. Even those who previously applied for a tourist visa and paid the visa fee were postponed until the end of 2021 and even 2022. So if you want your boyfriend to come to the USA, you have to wait a long time for a tourist visa, at least until the covid is completely gone and routine visa services begin. How about trying K1? Maybe you will have a happy marriage and sweet children still, even for k1, you have to wait a long time, about 11 months. 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Yeliz

[Adventine 3,201]

The problem is that OP has said in their first post that they are not ready to do a K1. Their relationship isn't at that point yet. And it's not the appropriate visa to apply for, if they aren't ready to get married.

[xtina92 2]

8 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Very few embassies had restarted tourist visas after the Covid shutdowns and I don’t think Ankara was one of those. Prior to this latest lockdown it was already straining at capacity, they had issued a statement they would only process Turkish citizen visas (despite being a designated embassy for Iranians, as I am sure you are aware Iran does not have a US embassy). Embassies are dealing with a massive backlog in visa applications and need to prioritize those. Typically tourist visas are absolute last priority, embassies have been reopening for immigrant visas, fiancé visas, student visas, work visas (sometimes only for medical personnel) and typically no embassy is even yet back to normal capacity on these, very few are doing tourist. I think your most realistic timeframe is definitely going to be counted in months rather than weeks before he can get a tourist visa interview. The question is whether it will be only a few months or whether it will be many months.

 

 

I figured this may be the case 😪 I wonder if there is any chance he could enter the US again through a student visa with the school he attended previously. I sort of doubt that could work. He wants to get his Masters degree, but pursuing that in America will undoubtedly take months as well. And a work visa seems unlikely since they reasonably seem to be focusing on medical personnel right now with all that is happening in the world. This is such a difficult situation because our only option seems to be me traveling to Turkey, but I can't keep coming here over and over and leaving everything behind in the US for months at a time. Even if I get to the point where I feel comfortable going the K1 route, that will take months as well. Why did I have to fall in love with someone on the other side of the world  😭

[xtina92 2]

6 hours ago, mushroomspore said:

It'll depend on how much backlog they have to get through. Impossible to know, at least right now. As with all things related to US immigration, the wait time is what it is and there's no real way to determine or predict that. The only way you know that the wait is finally over is when the approval update comes in and his visa is in his hands.

The decision depends 100% on the consular officer who takes up your boyfriend's case. The only thing your boyfriend can and should do is be honest with each and every single question asked of him (including whether or not he has US family, friends and/or significant other) and to present as much and as many ties to Turkey as possible in his effort to convince the consulate that he does genuinely plan to return to Turkey. Officer A may have a more lenient personality and decides that even with an American girlfriend, your boyfriend will adhere to the tourist visa's rules and return home after his stay. Meanwhile, Officer B may be more of a hard-butt and does not want to take the chance of your boyfriend overstaying in the US because he has an American girlfriend and ultimately deny the tourist visa to him. Again, there is no way to know or predict.

Thank you for your advice! Ugh, The uncertainty is killing me 😭

[xtina92 2]

5 hours ago, Adventine said:

 

I applied for my US tourist visa because I wanted to visit my US citizen boyfriend. They asked me about him during the interview and I was direct and honest about having a US citizen boyfriend AND family members in the US.

 

It was a quick and easy interview. I believe the deciding factors in my case were that I had a stable job, a respectable salary, and travel history to other countries. Your Turkish boyfriend seems to have a similar situation so the odds are good that he will get a tourist visa. That said, there are no guarantees.

 

Also, anyone who advises you to lie or conceal information from immigration officers is not to be trusted.

Thanks for your advice! I'm hoping the fact that he has been in the US before will also help our case. He also owns property here in Turkey so that seems like it would prove a solid reason to return. Now I guess it's just a matter of figuring out when the US embassies here will resume visa services. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!